Mark Armijo McKnight’s (b. 1984) artistic language is rooted in existential themes. In his evocative photographs, bodies and landscapes are juxtaposed to express ideas of beauty, despair, freedom and repression. The exhibition Decreation harnesses the power of contrast through black-and-white images. In this ongoing project, the artist calls upon French philosopher and mystic Simone Weil’s idea of intentionally undoing the self to reveal fundamental elements of creation.
Throughout the series, McKnight depicts an unveiling and unravelling of intimate bodies and rugged land forms in intermediate states. Often, his work references the mountains and western terrain of his youth in southern California and his family lineage in New Mexico’s badlands, as well as the broader queer experience. He uses a large format film camera to incorporate the precision of Modernism, alongside a host of worldly references from art history to mythology.
Abstract and emotive, the photographs tell quiet stories that resonate even more as a collection. Figurative tensions become formal in photographs such as The Black Place (ii) and Somnia, where the divergent subjects spiritually echo each other. The former is named for artist Georgia O’Keeffe’s favorite painting site near Nageezi, New Mexico, and the latter means “dream shapes,” where sleep is shown as intertwined figures. In these vignettes, bodies fold into themselves much like the eroded landscapes.
Layered in metaphor, they are bound by continuums of light and dark, and time and space. Alongside McKnight’s photography, a 16mm film plays metronomes in scenes of New Mexico’s wilderness. Two sculptures carved in limestone offer seating in the image of ancient sundials to complete the timeless feel.
Words: Jennifer Sauer
Whitney, New York, Until 5 January
1. Mark Armijo McKnight, Clouds (Decreation), 2024. Gelatin silver print, 16 x 20 in. (40.6 x 50.8 cm). Courtesy the artist. © Mark Armijo McKnight
2. Mark Armijo McKnight, The Black Place (ii), 2024. Gelatin silver print, 48 x 60 in. (121.9 x 152.4 cm). Courtesy the artist. © Mark Armijo McKnight.
3. Mark Armijo McKnight, Somnia, 2023. Gelatin silver print, 48 x 60in. (121.9 x 152.4 cm). Courtesy the artist. © Mark Armijo McKnight
